Rediscovering Zahoor ul Akhlaq (1941-1999)
Raza Rumi asks if Pakistani state and society are ready to reclaim the great artist on his tenth death anniversary Ten years ago, on…
Imagined homeland
It irks me when I hear simplistic platitudes on Pakistani society, state or people. The heterogeneity of Pakistan is by itself an anthropologist’s dream,…
Bombay – Nostalgic shop owners refuse to change name
Read the captioned story in the Times of India today- politics of war mongering can be such a disruptive influence on ordinary lives. In…
Say no to war
Little did we know that the imminence of war between India and Pakistan would once again become a possibility, howsoever faint or misguided? The…
Dholaks drowning gunfire
by Shreekant Gupta During a recent visit to Delhi I mentioned to my aunt that I planned to visit Rawalpindi next week for a…
Trouble bubble – a fresh perspective
Ejaz Haider’s article published in today’s Daily Times is a welcome perspective. Thanks for some sanity.. …Pakistan may be in a political crisis, but…
‘There are none so deaf as those who don’t want to hear’
Liked this excellent editorial from The News: Yet more curiously, there appears to be a positive dearth of arrests of those who publicly carry…
Pakistani media – an alternative view
Themrise Khan sent me her provocative piece on Pakistani electronic media. It is a contested standpoint and will not be appreciated by all. But…
Remembering Benazir Bhutto
I am reposting my piece that was written a year ago. It seems that not much has changed in these twelve months It was…
1971: the forgotten silence
Published in The NEWS This week marks the 37th anniversary of the tragic events of 1971 that led to the dismemberment of Pakistan and…
Is it just cricket? Indian team should have come to Pakistan
“The tour’s cancellation means that terrorists have won; this is what they wanted to achieve.” I was quoted in a piece published by Hindustan…
Even Tamas is online now
My dear friend Bhupinder alerted me to his post that talks about Tamas, a great novel (and subsequently a gripping TV serial) on the…
Unfullfiled Civic Longing
Written for The Friday Times, Pakistan After Mumbai, I have stopped watching television. I will not participate in the senseless jingoism of the Indo-Pak…
Struggle for the soul
– Ayeda Naqvi While it is tempting to give in to anger, it is more important to take a deep breath and remember that…
Who will win the game?
I have been amazed at the reaction that my little piece, “Policy shifts not war” published on these pages on Dec 4 has generated…
A new book on the Partition saga
Changing mindsets by SYED ALI NAQVI One might cry out, humanity is dead if there was any, in disgust and disbelief after going through…
Policy shifts not war
First published in The NEWS The dastardly attacks in Mumbai have irritated the old wounds and replayed the familiar, jingoistic tunes across the Indo-Pak…
Islamabad: This too shall pass
Bemoaning Islamabad’s fall from grace Not long ago, Delhi and Lahore were vulnerable to hordes of foreign invaders. The Mongol fear was overwhelming and…
The native returns
Unaffected by the prophets of doom, a Lahori decides the city is the place to be Twenty years ago, I left Lahore. Excited by…
The words of others
My piece published in the Friday Times last week For decades, Pakistan’s poets and writers have defied conventions and the almighty establishment. Rooted in…